Syed Kamall, on behalf of the ECR Group.
– Mr President, what is the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) really about? It is about new jobs created by Polish fruit exporters or Italian tie makers facing lower barriers to selling their products in Canada, it is about cheaper prices and more choice for consumers, and it is about allowing our small businesses to bid for public procurement contracts in Canada. My ECR Group supports CETA and other trade agreements because international trade is between willing sellers in one country and willing buyers in another country.

Opponents of international trade will often highlight the losses, but they fail to point to the often larger gains which are dispersed across a nation or across international borders. I am not saying that we should ignore these legitimate concerns. We should encourage lifelong learning programmes for workers in declining companies and sectors to retrain for new roles in the face of globalisation and new technology. We should address the concerns of both Canadians and citizens of EU countries who accuse each other of having lower environmental and labour standards. Both cannot be right. And we should also remind the anti-capitalists over there, and the anti-globalisation movement over here, that they are in fact the true friends of the multinationals, for it is often the multinationals with their armies of lawyers and lobbyists who call for, or shape, the regulatory barriers which keep smaller businesses confined to their local markets.

(Applause)

So the ECR Group will vote for CETA, as an opportunity to show the world that the EU is open for business, an opportunity for small businesses to create more jobs and opportunities for everyone, not just a privileged few or the large multinationals, to benefit from open trade. We support CETA.